Alfredo was living in London for three years and always in Shoreditch. Rivington, Pitfield, Chesire and at the moment he is living in Hackney Road. He works as a chef de Partie at Tramontana (Old Street square Curtain Road), it’s a recently opened tapas bar. Also he worked in many Shoreditch restaurants : Cargo, Hoxton Square, Electricity Showrooms just to name a few…
Part 1 – Portobello’s Carpaccio
We will start this section with a dish, the creator of which is probably the most revolutionary chef of all time (apologies to Mr. Escoffier), the great Ferran Adria. We’ll give it a slight twist to adapt it to home cooking. The dish has five or six different- but amazing- textures that combine perfectly and is prepared in the blink of an eye. What a genius!
Ingredients (4 people):
– Portobello mushroom. 300 g. Four good sized pieces.
– Olive oil. Brindisa Aberquina.
– 2 cherry tomatoes.
– Manchego shaves.
– 50 g pinenuts.
– 1/2 a pomegranate.
– Chives.
– 1 clove of garlic.
– Daily cress.
– Maldon salt and pepper.
Method of preparation:
1. Mushroom confit. Cut a clove of garlic in half and place it with the mushrooms without their stalks in a saucepan. Cover with oil. Leave for 20 min at 60?C, the perfect point is when the oil has Little bubbles, like champagne. Place on kitchen paper to cool.
2. Slice into sheets of 0.5mm and place on a plate as shown in the foto, from the outside in.
3. Micro-salad. Chop the mushroom stalks very finely. Saute with garloc and a little oil. Mix in a bowl along with the daily cress, salt, pepper and a few drops of oil.
4. To serve. Warm in the oven so the portobellos acquire some temperatura. Next, place the salad in the middle volumising the dish. Place the tosted pine nuts, pomegranite, Manchego shaves, chopped chives and the halved cherry tomatoes on top of the mushroom, finishing with a touch of Maldon salt and a squirt of olive oil.
The success of this dish lies in the quality of the necessary ingredients. Don’t be lazy – take a stroll through the markets in and around Shoreditch during the week as, aside from having a good time, you will enjoy one of the most exquisite carpaccio you have ever tried. And I consider myself a great fan of them.
